Wanting to get out and get some exercise, Steve and I decided on Surprise Lake, with its fairly level approach upward along Surprise Creek. We started out in light snow (about 31°F) from Scenic about 0900 and reached the lake 3.5 hours later. Thanks to some who went up earlier, the route was nicely set in snow all the way. With recent warmer temps and higher freezing level, the snow was quite consolidated, even off the trail route. Micro-spikes came in handy on the compacted route, and for us snowshoes were not needed. But many wore snowshoes and they were more useful nearing the lake from above 4000'. Our thermometer read 18°F at the lake; so it was quite cool with a slight breeze and continual snowfall. We departed down after taking a quick lunch break and taking in the lake panorama, arriving at the trail head two hours later.
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